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These guys? These guys are pretty good guys. So for you guys, here’s these guys, in no particular order (OR IS IT SO PARTICULAR THAT YOUR HEAD IS NOW SPINNING?):

Claire d’Este

“Claire has had six short films produced in the past four years that have been all over the world and won audience and jury prizes. Despite enjoying this immensely it hasn’t led to a successfully completed feature script (or any money) so far. She has written in a range of genres (comedy, drama, horror, action, and science fiction) focusing on female characters who actually do meaningful stuff, and usually pretty disturbing stuff too. In her spare time, Claire is a mother of two and a research scientist in robotics and artificial intelligence.”

So Claire is one of my Intrigues, and I deem her as such in the absolute best possible way. She has a lot of experience telling stories and telling them well, but little so far in the realm of writing features…which, I must admit, was a daunting factor in considering her. But I chose her anyway. She feels…steeped in nerd wisdom and life experience to me. Also, did you see that she works in robotics and AI????? SOLD. I think this is going to be a great challenge for her and I think we’re all going to learn a lot watching. You can find her on Twitter at @clairedeste.

Emily Bolcik

“Hey, I’m Emily. I’m a recent grad of Emerson College. Well, it was over a year ago, but if I keep saying ‘recent’ I feel less stressed about where I am in life. I live a glamorous existence in LA, meaning I live forty miles outside of LA in my parents’ house. We have cable, though. This past year I’ve been writing a little bit of everything: depressing journal entries (one of which ended up as the first draft of the one-pager I submitted to Geoff), Facebook statuses that my parents’ friends like to comment ‘Are you okay?’ on, and scripts. Lots of scripts.

In my spare time I enjoy not going outside, complaining to my parents that there’s nothing to eat in the house, and thinking about Chris Pratt. My twitter name is@emirrybolswick. But I am used to having zero followers and using it as a place to write things that are too weird for the Facebook crowd, so feel free to never look at my page. Really. Don’t look at it.”

In her Submission, Emily spoke pretty openly about being 23 but still feeling like she was 8, sort of feeling the urge to APPEAR an adult while simultaneously feeling that she has nothing in common with grown-ups. As I’m 35 and often feel the same way, this was a shot right to my heart. She also spoke about this time in her life when she has no idea what to do or who to be, and again, I remember that time of my life very well. I think it’s an easily-dismissed but fertile breeding ground for ideas and emotions, and as funny as Emily is, I think she has a great shot at capturing that in a VERY entertaining way.

Jesse Federman & Jerren Lauder

“Jesse Federman exploded onto the scene in 2nd grade when his short story ‘Murder King’ (about an evil fast-food restaurant) was awarded 3rd place in a district-wide elementary-school writing competition. He then retreated from the public eye to focus on his other passions: becoming a member of the legendary Bones Brigade skateboarding team and professional soccer. Due to faulty equipment and politics, he eventually abandoned both pursuits and returned to writing. He later attended film school at Boston University where he earned a degree in Screenwriting which, if you don’t have one, you should get one. He lives in Los Angeles and can be found on Twitter (@jessefederman) or at his Peabody Award winning blog,whatsinfedshead.tumblr.com.

Jerren went to film school in Fullerton, CA, thinking he would be Terrence Malick. Years later, after several NON award-winning short films, he can confidently say about that period of time: ‘Whoops.’ Along the way, he interned at Sundance and made zero networking connections. Now he reads and re-reads the book How to Make Yourself Better: an Introduction to Android Robotics while working in post-production, mainlining any and all movies he can. He’s honored to now be writing with Jesse (author of ‘Murder King’). They’ve made several internet shorts together, including ‘VGPD: 8-Bit Detectives,’ an original animated series for Machinima. Jerren cannot be found on the internet.”

The first thing I noticed about these guys is that they’re genuinely funny. But even more impressive than that…it’s tough to tell where one stops writing and the other starts, which is exactly the kind of thing you’re looking for with a writing team. Which is strange, considering their Submission talked a lot about how much they initially hated each other. I feel like these two are on the cusp of really breaking through. They feel more “ready” than anyone else in the group.

Rachel Woolley

“I’d never even considered screenwriting until a few months ago, which is surprising because I’ve always naturally been drawn to jobs that 1) seemed too interesting to be real, and 2) would probably never pay my bills. Previously I’ve been everything from a paid audience member of a reality court TV show to the manager of a porn store. (Favorite skin flick title? Gotta say it’s a tie between ‘Pacific Rimmers’ and ‘Saving Ryan’s Privates’.) For a brief, terrifying while I was actually selling knives door to door. (Friday is Casual Bring-the-Instrument-of-Your-Own-Demise-to-Work Day.)

Part of me feels like I really only have a month to write this spec. My in-laws from the UK will be visiting the first two weeks in October, so I’ll be pretty busy doing my American Wife shtick – aggressively clapping everybody on the back, not cooking, etc. But I have no life whatsoever to distract me in the meantime so I’m confident I’ll be able to finish anyway. I did warn my husband I might not be talking to him very much for the next few weeks. He took it hard, poor guy. He couldn’t even bring himself to remove his headphones or look in my direction.

So listen: Rachel terrifies me. This is as blankly a shot in the dark as firing a bullet in a non-lit area can be. She’s admittedly not been interested in screenwriting for very long, which rarely ends well as far as first scripts are concerned. She wrote this really weird Submission about how she’s obsessed with signs and how she was once attacked by a monkey at a zoo. I tried, honestly, like ten times to sort her Submission into the “Reluctant Pass” folder, but I never could. Why? She’s too entertaining and too untarnished by typical screenwriting bullshit and she just makes me laugh. So fuck it. Feels well worth a go-round to me.

Damian O’Neil

“Damian O’Neil, 48 year old broadcast journalist living in North-East England with partner, 2 cats and elderly VW Bus. Regional reporter for BBC TV and Radio. Some of the biggest stories to emerge in the UK in recent years have happened in my patch and I was there to cover them.

Grew up in UK, communist Europe, Middle and Far East. Done more job-type jobs than I can remember. Playing Guitar, fishing for salmon and climbing Cumbrian Fells are just three of the many honeypot distractions that line up to stop me from doing my Work. Sometimes I win, more times they win.

There is an itch that cannot be scratched by the wrong hand any more than a starving dog can be fed with a rubber bone.”

There is something hardscrabble and grizzled and decidedly British about the way Damian writes, and God help me if I didn’t just fall for it head over heels like a bob-haired tween at her first sight of the Beatles. In his Submission, he spoke openly about a failed first marriage, the highs and lows of globetrotting, and the specter of pushing age 50 without having attained that one thing, that only thing, you really wanted to. Though I’m not sure he feels the same himself, he gave me the feeling that he’s *just* in the right frame of mind to finally write something that ties his hefty collection of life experiences together. And I can’t wait to see what he comes up with. He can be found on Twitter at @DamianONeilBBC.

Louis Bennett

“Hello all, I’m Louis, lovely to meet you. I’ve been asked by Geoff to provide a short bio of myself. I work at one of those places that use that icebreaker where you have to say a few things about yourself, and people have to guess which one isn’t true. Because I am a creature of habit:

A. At the moment of my birth, the tallest tree in the local cemetery split asunder.

B. When I was 9, I won a school art award. For my prize I chose a dinosaur book, because I’m not a fucking idiot.

C. When I was 17, I put on a big show and dance production for the entire school. I came second. Out of two. I lost.

D. By the time I was 28, I had moved to New York from London, I had got married, and I had four scripts to my name.

E. When I found out I had been selected, I ate a shit ton of $2 tacos.Follow me on Twitter@Lou_Bennettto find out the answer…it’s not A…

It is.”

Some of you on Twitter may remember me cackling about a Submission I received that basically said, “Here’s why I want to write this script: revenge.” Well, that was Louis’s. Here’s the thing, and maybe I’m the only one willing to admit this: I think wanting/exacting revenge is healthy and a worthwhile expenditure of your time on this Earth. So kudos, Louis. His missive stuck with me through the whole process and continued to crack me up. If he can script as funny as he writes prose, he’ll be in damn good shape.

Christopher Hills Eaton

“Christopher Hills Eaton believes there is nothing wrong with cultivating a little character. Experience breeds knowledge. So Chris picked strawberries and filed legal briefs. He’s washed dishes for a sorority and sold framed artwork out of the back of his car. He’s an artist and an acrobat. But storytelling, and writing, has always been Chris’ passion.

With a handful of spec scripts under his belt, Chris is eager to explore this creative challenge while navigating a newly established life in Los Angeles.

Here’s the thing: Christopher wasn’t crazy forthcoming in details about himself in his Submission, but that’s OK. Because what he spoke to about his life and his experiences was more than enough to make believe that he can tell one hell of a story. He’s led such a varied and, it seems, hyperambulatory life that he has several human existences worth of travels to pull from. His bio is, I think, almost tantalizingly short. I have no idea where he’s going to go with all of this but I’m totally fascinated to look through his lens on the world.

Dan Johnson

“Dan Johnson is a recent Radio, TV, and Film graduate from Northwestern University. While there, he spent his time focused on screenwriting, student filmmaking, and leisure. In the fall of 2013 he interned for the Onion, America’s Finest News Source, and now works as the Onion News Network’s Writers’ Assistant, where he is surrounded by immensely talented people that, deep down, truly scare him. In his free time he enjoys college basketball, Malört, and shopping for office supplies. He’s extremely excited and humbled to be a part of this adventure and is really hoping this was supposed to be written in the third person.

Dan reminds me of a younger me, although for his sake I hope he’s on a decent diet and much better looking. They don’t hire just anyone to work at THE ONION, and Dan’s Submission did nothing to sway me from the notion that he deserves to be there. Maybe he’s a little green, sure, but again…I like the notion that, as far as writing a screenplay, he’s probably not had cynicism beat into him so wretchedly. Yet. There are a lot of ways that Dan feels like the “safe” choice of the group to me, and I couldn’t mean that as a higher compliment. He’s just flat-out funny, which is only going to be a problem if he’s writing a script about baby cancer. And even THEN maybe not.

Delaney McNeil

“Hey guys, I’m Delaney McNeil. I’m 22 years old and recently graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a major in English and a minor in Film. I currently live with my mom, step-dad, two brothers, two cats, and one dog in Mexico, Missouri. Yes, Mexico is a real town in the state of Missouri and yes, I really live here. I’m super excited to be representing MexMo in this Six Week Spec… And I know I’m representing Mexico because I unfortunately know every single person in this town and none of them are involved with this. Recently, I’ve been working a lot and saving up money to move literally anywhere else. And by ‘working a lot,’ I really just find money in my brother’s truck or I offer to run errands for my parents and then ‘forget’ to give them their change back.

Other random things… I don’t know if I’ll ever like a movie as much as I like Rear Window. I’m allergic to everything. I dyed my hair once and spent two days in the hospital. Strange things like that happen to me all the time, which is why self-deprecating humor is kind of my thing. It’s all too easy for me. Also, I have this insane, irrational fear of birds. I have no idea where it came from. Maybe Hitchcock? All I know is they scare the living fucking shit out of me. When I was eight, I was the lead singer and songwriter of a band called ‘Zero Gravity’. We broke up after my band mates didn’t want to practice at recess anymore. I’m still getting over the disappointment. My parents and brothers have unanimously voted me the ‘Black Sheep’ of our family. I have no idea why.

Honestly, I think Delaney held back in her bio a bit, and just as honestly, I’m tickled pink because I don’t think you guys are going to see her coming. I wrote on Twitter about how she basically threw out margins in order to get nearly 1000 words into her Submission, which made me giggle on its own, but what I didn’t write then was how wickedly, meanly funny her piece was and how much I enjoyed getting it at nearly the last minute. She’d apparently just pulled some kind of redneck sorcery to get her parents to agree to float her while she submitted to screenplay competitions this Summer. I begged her not to do so and to write for this experiment instead. I’m exceptionally glad she decided to come along with us.

Sabina Giado

“Marginally impressive stuff:

–Born and raised in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Sri Lankan by ethnicity. Studied at University of Melbourne, Australia. Married a Sri Lankan. Now living in Colorado.–Was a member of the first all-female stand-up comedy troupe, Funny Girls.–Was a member of the first improvisational troupe in the Middle East, Improv Revolution–Eight shorts, four ‘finished’ but not ‘polished’ features (I’ll finish at least three of those, I promise). One short produced, but died in post-production.–P.A’ed on a reality TV show, a TV commercial; was assistant director on the failed short.–Was in corporate communications for money and sometimes for love.

Coolest things that have ever happened to me: –Making the second round of the Sundance Screenwriters Labs (currently ongoing)–Being among Geoff LaTulippe’s Selected Ten.

Not so impressive but interesting stuff:–Favorite movies (for now): The Odd Couple. Death at a Funeral. Alien. Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back (of course).–Frighteningly good at baking.–Cries at the drop of a hat (so don’t drop a hat).–Awfully nice, until someone mentions gender or racial politics.

Also, I can speak four languages at varying levels of proficiency (English, Tamil, Hindi, French).

Sabina kept it light in her bio, which is great, but her Submission stuck out to me more than most. She’s basically a unicorn in the writing world – a non-American Muslim woman – but beyond that, she expressed something that I found at once both upsetting and all too personally familiar: that not writing this script would mean she was a coward. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth, but it’s a sentiment that all writers stare down the barrel of at one time or another, and Sabina hesitated not one iota in expressing it. She also made a point that, where she used to run from the highs and lows of life, she’s now embracing them. If she channels all of that into the right script, you’re going to be hearing a lot more from her.

While I admit that some of you may possibly be interested in this little (very early) postmortem, I hesitate to say that it’s anything less than completely necessary for me. I have been so perpetually blown away by the response to this…whatever it is that this thing is…that I need to decompress from it all. So, look – you’re getting a numbered list, and I honestly don’t care how much of a hack you think that makes me. Also, my hackery could blow your mind no matter how little you think of me. So suck on that butt, buttsucks.

1. I received 423 Submissions in total. I cannot even begin to tell you how giddy I am that the number ballooned to that many. Never in my wildest feverdreams did I think I’d hit those numbers. I thought *maybe* a hundred, tops.

2. It must be noted, in all perfectly honest humility, that I probably wouldn’t have crested even that first 100 without the generous contribution from Franklin Leonard and the wonderful people at The Black List. This includes those of you who discussed the experiment and offered each other support on The Black Board. I am not at all ashamed or embarrassed to know that most of you entered for those two months on the Black List. I would have too.

3. As to those Rules. Oh, how the Rules seemed to vex so many of you so much. I have to admit it was a *little* fun watching some of you dance and fret. But only a little. To wit, the Rules were Rules for a few main reasons:

–I wanted to see how well you paid attention to detail.

–I wanted to weed out those that couldn’t pay attention to detail…and also cut down on the net number of Submissions I’d have to read. All in all, about 50 entries were deleted without being read. And that was AFTER several Twitter/Facebook/Blog warnings that some of you were fucking up. Hell, I even sent out a few personal emails to alert some writers when they’d missed something. I’m a kind, kind man in that way.

–I wanted to see if any of you would bother to break the Rules in a way that kept me interested. Very few did, which is a bummer, but was not at all unexpected.

4. Of those 423 Submissions that met my seemingly-random standards, I read every single word of every single one. If you made the effort to enter, I owed you the read. Simple as that.

5. Some Submissions I discarded after the first read. In fact, the vast majority (over 250) went this way. At the end of the day, the numbers played out, and the maxim stays true: most of the people who want desperately to be writers are never going to be employed or recognized in any meaningful way as writers. It doesn’t behoove any of us to gloss over this or say it in a potentially less offensive way. It’s just bone-dry fact.

6. What disappointed me most were the Submissions that read like job applications. And there were WAY too many of them. Especially after the one update I made on the site flat-out BEGGING you guys for more passion. It rarely came. Again: many aren’t meant to write.

7. The second most disappointing were the Submissions that basically just said, over and over again for an entire page, some iteration of, “I need a kick in the ass and this would provide me with it.” Wow, really? No shit. That’s more or less the bare minimum I’d expect of you. I could write paragraphs describing how not shocked I am that you procrastinate. But if telling me that was all you had, you were firing blanks. I’m not interested in spending my time on writers who need ME + $250 to get them writing. If you can’t be arsed to ever write it on your own, you’re probably never going to write it. On the flip side, I was REALLY impressed with the handful of writers that realized this and turned the pressure on themselves.

A NOTE: That’s not to say that if you talked in ANY way about motivation/procrastination you were dismissed out of hand; far from it. But if it was your only expressed motivation, it wasn’t enough.

8. Anyone who said, “I’ll be writing along no matter what.” I believe you. And I hope you believe you. And I hope you write along. You owe it to yourself to do so.

9. Why “The Selected Ten”? I think I covered this before, but I just thought it sounded cool, like a group of characters we’d have met on LOST. Of COURSE I know it’s patently pretentious and cringe-worthy. That’s part of the fun!

10. At the end of the day, by nature, who I picked came down to my personal tastes and instincts. I am POSITIVE I passed over a couple people who would have written great scripts. I am POSITIVE that another writer in the same position might have made wholly different choices. I am NOT in any way, shape or form claiming that the eleven writers I’ve selected for this are now industry game-breakers. They simply wrote the one-page declarations I believed the most in.

11. If you wrote a comedic piece, I was really hard on you; some funny people wrote funny entries that just missed me in one way or another. If you admitted it had been a long time between scripts or that you’d just started writing, I was almost entirely dismissive; too few of you are ready and almost none of you have read enough scripts to take a legit shot at a feature. If you announced or gave the indication that a move to Los Angeles was impossible for you, I held it against you. A couple of you were, by your own admissions, *very* pregnant; I hope you resubmit when your schedules are a touch more stable. If you were currently living or had lived in Cleveland, bonus points.

12. I think eleventy billion people named “Emma” submitted. It makes me sort of sad to have picked none, though several were close.

13. Only three – ONLY 3 – writers’ Submissions were in screenplay format. I thought there’d be WAY more. I’m flabbergasted there weren’t more.

14. Eight writers, for one reason or another, mentioned Scarlett Johannson in their Submission. As far as I recall, not a single other celebrity, male or female, was mentioned in the other 415. I have no fucking clue what conclusion to draw from this data.

15. What was I looking for? Passion. Engagement. Differentiation. What I consider to be “It”. My definition of “It” is, by its very nature, different than anyone else’s definition. Again, I’m POSITIVE I missed someone with “It”, either by my definition or someone else’s. That said, I’m 100% confident in the Ten I chose. These are the Ten I wanted. They all had something that struck me on a deeper level. That’s it.

16. That said, I think I’m taking some HUGE chances here, chances that I’m taking knowing full-well that I may have passed on a safer option. Safer, in this case, meaning a writer who I was confident could and would complete the script in the allotted time and not have produced a steaming pile of cowflop. Often, I went with “potentially exciting” over “seems dependable”. There are some VERY green writers in this group. There are some who I don’t think have what I would consider a working knowledge of screen story. There are some that seem to think this could be their last shot. And there are those that I think are already in the pocket. But getting to work with writers who are on different levels of experience and plans of attack? Holy shit, that energizes me.

17. In short, I have NO IDEA how this is going to go and how it’ll end up working out. I *think* that these writers will finish a script, and I know they all have the potential to write something that turns heads. But it could all implode and turn out to be nothing. I haven’t the foggiest idea what to expect, but MAN am I excited to get rolling and see where this goes.

18. To everyone that submitted: I find myself truly humbled and even more impressed with your gumption to fire off even that one-pager. Trust me: if you can write that page, you can finish a script. You just have to overcome that initial barrier again. And then do it 90-119 more times 🙂

19. Please, write along with us. Let me know how it goes for you. Yes, I’ll be working on my own script and working closely with the Selected Ten, but I will still be available to all of you now and again. If you have a question or something to share, email me. I’d love to hear your battlefield tales as they unfold.

I think that’s it for now. Some of you Not Selected (aw) will, as I stated before, be receiving emails of encouragement in the coming days; this just means you showed me something and I want to encourage you further. And, while I won’t answer emails about why I didn’t select your particular Submission, questions and comments are always welcome.

A much, much more in-depth reaction to this whole nutty shebang forthcoming this afternoon, but there’s no reason not toget this out of the way first. And so I’m very happy to announce that the Selected Ten are:

Christopher Hills Eaton

Claire d’Este

Damian O’Neil

Dan Johnson

Delaney McNeal

Emily Bolcik

Jerren Lauder & Jesse Federman

Louis Bennett

Rachel Woolley

Sabina Giado

Cliched, I know, but…this became a REALLY tough cull at one point. For the longest time there were a couple Submissions that were a lock, but filling out the rest of the field caused me quite a bit of consternation. Honestly broke my heart to finally file away the last five or six. Thus, a couple handfuls of you who DIDN’T make it will be receiving an email from me anyway, because you were right in the pocket. Will burn through those in the next couple of days.

To the Ten: It feels a little conceited congratulating you for meeting my schizoid and totally insular expectations, but for what it’s worth…you know, congratulations 🙂 You’ll be hearing from me soon as well.

UPDATE (8/19/14): The Submission period is now CLOSED. Will be updating with some thoughts soon, as just saying “Thank You” doesn’t even begin to cut it. But in all humbled sincerity: from the bottom of my heart, thank you for ALL of your Submissions.

UPDATE (8/6/14): Was pointed to this thread on The Black List forums a couple of days ago: http://theblackboard.blcklst.com/forums/topic/is-anyone-entering-geoff-latulippes-6-week-screenwriting-challenge/

Therein a question was raised about something that I now realize I never addressed before, and it’s a notion I absolutely SHOULD have addressed at the outset. So please note this, as – between this Black Board conversation and a couple of emails I’ve received – it appears to be very important to some of you.

I would never use the word “mentor” when it comes to this project – that not only seems too formal, but I don’t think I’m experienced enough or accomplished enough or good enough yet to “mentor” anyone. That in mind, YES, I will ABSOLUTELY be a resource to the Selected Ten for the entire six weeks. Again, I won’t be reading your actual pages, but I’ll be available to you as much as possible to answer questions, talk through story/character issues, offer advice in any form so long as I feel qualified to do so, etc. It’s my fault for making it seem like this this was *just* a writing/reacting challenge. In fact, one of the main reasons I wanted to do this in the first place was to HELP you to write a script in six weeks. And if I’m just posting your weekly blurbs to my website, that doesn’t really cut it.

So yes, I am to be a resource to you for the duration. And even if you’re NOT one of the Selected Ten, you can still, as always, email me. I will do my damndest to be a resource to you as well.

One last thing: someone asked why I went with “The Selected Ten”. Honestly? It just sounded like something badass that might have cropped up on LOST. There’s nothing deeper behind it. I’m just a shallow guy who likes dime store profundity.

UPDATE (8/1/14): You now all have, officially, 18 days left to get your Submissions in.

In general, you guys are doing very, very well following the rules. A couple of you are going to want to reread the Submission Guidelines and try again, however. I’ve deleted precious many entries so far. Don’t be a Precious Many. Be a Selected Ten.

We’re at 200+ Submissions now, which is more than I could have ever hoped for in TOTAL, much less in the first 13 days this shit was live. I can’t thank you guys enough for jumping in headfirst. This is really, really, really fucking cool. But on that note, I do want to say something. It’s more philosophical in nature, but I think it’s important to address. And I want you guys to think about this carefully.

I’ve infrequently been truly impressed so far.

Don’t get me wrong – there have been some EXCELLENT entries. There have been some entries that are DEFINITELY making the experiment. Of this there is no question. There have been some entries that I’ve been very moved by, a few that have made me really laugh (though, sadly, only a couple of those as well), and a few that have stuck with me. And I shouldn’t have to say this, but lest I get accused of being conceited (not that this doesn’t happen often anyway or that it bothers me in the slightest when it does), please note: I’m not the end-all, be-all arbiter of Good Writing. I am well aware of this. But I read a lot. A LOT. And I know what Great Writing is to a large degree, and I’m an expert of what Great Writing Is In My Opinion. With all that in mind, I’m seeing too much of something, and if you haven’t submitted yet, I want the following to be a metaphorical grappling hook that sinks into the back of your mind with a wet SHUNK and sticks there:

A lot of you are writing not want you want to say, but what you think I want to hear – and worse, HOW you think I want to hear it. Inauthenticity has been, unfortunately, prevalent. It’s not something you can hide unless you’re just…on another level. Too many big words, over-flowery exposition, crutch-propped profanity, glurge-level sob stories*. I don’t care about that shit, especially if you can’t pull it off. And despite what you might have thought, this isn’t an ego-stroke for me. This is work, and I’m working to TRY TO HELP YOU. And you know what helps you? What YOU want to say. How YOU want to say it. My God, trust me: I can tell the difference.

Some people can’t help but be authentic and honest; this is coming through in surround sound in their Submissions. And they are CRUSHING the other entries. And yeah, that’s what I expected – most writing just isn’t great writing. It’s mediocre and forgettable. But that only matters in a macro sense; it shouldn’t matter to you in the moment. There are good entries that are not going to make the cut here, no doubt. But the pile of Immediately Dismissed Submissions is running about 80-85% of the whole.

So why am I even bringing this up? Because a few of you have held back, and it’s very frustrating. There are some mediocre Submissions that could have warranted serious consideration if the writer had just let go, if he or she had worried more about what THEY wanted to communicate more than what they thought would get them “in”. And there have been some strong submissions that could have totally blown me away…but didn’t quite. And the funny/aggravating thing about that is what I’ve been saying: what’s going to work for you here is NOT caring about what you *think* I want to see. I want to see you in your purest and most interesting form. That’s it. So fucking haul back and let fly right from the core of you, OK? If you can do that without the melodrama and cheap theatrics I’ve seen in some pieces so far…well, no matter what happens, you’re going to be in a much better place as a writer. Bare minimum.

If you haven’t submitted yet, you have your work cut out for you, no doubt. But so did the people that submitted in the first few days. Nothing’s changed in that regard. Get cracking and I’ll see you at the finish line.

* – It bears mentioning that there have been some exceptionally compelling, heartbreaking and oddly lovely tales of woe submitted so far. Dark is not bad, and telling me about your challenges will not hurt you. But seriously: know the difference between owning your pain and a trying to manipulate me with it. Because I sure as fuck do.

UPDATE (7/21/14): Someone actually emailed to ask me, “What’s with all the rules?” Don’t worry about it. Maybe I’ll explain the rules later. Maybe I won’t. This is my thing and there are rules. Maybe there’s a reason. Maybe I’m just fucking with you. Who knows. Do I even know? Who knows? Worry about your script. That’s the point here. Luckily, like 90% of you are following said rules. The ones who are not are actually making this a bit easier on me because I can just delete the entries, which leaves me feeling less overwhelmed by the crazy – and yet humbling and majestic – response so far. Bottom line: you guys are awesome, and I’m glad this has motivated ANY of you even a little bit. That, in turn, motivates me. A couple of other things:

1. Let’s not refer to this as a “contest”. I think that cheapens the whole spirit of the thing in some way. Let’s just call it an experiment. Or better yet, a challenge. That feels a little more…honest to me. Also, if you’re on Twitter, Twitter at me about it with the simple hashtag #SixWeekSpec. If you have questions or concerns or just want to talk about your script boner, I’ll be around.

2. If one more of you calls me “Mr. LaTulippe” I will revolt and it will not be pretty. “Geoff” works just fine, as that’s my name. I will tell you why this bothers me: we’re all writers here. I’m not a professor or some figure of authority. I’m just here to help 🙂

Also it just makes me feel old. I’m old enough. Please don’t pile on.

3. I cannot enough thank Scott at Go Into the Story for pimping us out. As he mentions in his post, he’s done something similar to this in the past, and with terrific result. I hope to carry a similar torch even within the same hemisphere as he did with The Quest.

4. Those of you that have not submitted yet: you have your work cut out for you. There have been some great entries and a couple that it would surprise me to not find “in” at the end of the day. Take your game and make it go up steps.

UPDATE (7/18/14): A couple people have emailed to ask if, were they not to be picked, they should still write along with the 11 of us here. Um, FUCK yes? That’s the whole point of this! I’m really only picking ten writers to highlight because I feel like that’s the max I can coordinate and still be somewhat helpful to them in the end. But this little experiment is for EVERYONE. And yes, I definitely want emails and Twitters and whatnot letting me know how you’re progressing. If you end your own process by uploading your script to the Black List, I’ll even pimp it out for you. Perhaps I was a little unclear in just focusing on the Selected Ten in my initial post, so let me be *very* clear now: if you want to be a screenwriter, I want you writing this September. No excuses.

UPDATE (7/18/14): In come the submissions! Really excited to see this! However, I must say, you guys lack reading comprehension: I’ve had to delete several entries already just because a handful of you didn’t pay attention to detail to the point where you didn’t even get past the subject line of the email. Tsk, tsk, tsky tsky-tsk tsk tsk. Re-read the rules and resubmit. I’ve emailed to remind a few of you but based on the volume of submissions I’ve seen already there’s zero chance I bother with that for very long. Give yourself a shot, damnit.

UPDATE(7/18/14):Holy shit, they’ve already started rolling in. Damn, you guys. Anyway, I probably should have said this before, even though it’s obvious, but: somewhere on your submission, make sure you’ve left your full name and email address. Muchas!

UPDATE (7/17/14): Yes, writing teams are definitely allowed. Sorry if there was any confusion about that.

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HERE ARE ALL THE GORY DETAILS:

Starting 1 September 2014 – professional duties allowing, which I’ll qualify in a moment – I’m going to begin writing the first draft of a brand new spec screenplay. I’m giving myself six weeks to complete it. I want you to come along with me on the journey. But not just in the passive way that you might be thinking. Here’s the deal:

I want you to start a your own brand new spec too. The one you’ve always wanted to dive into but never did. The one that’s kept you up nights tossing around scenes and dialogue but that you never had the drive to actually crack. The one that itches and burns and crackles, but life has kept you away from. Actually, in that last instance you might have some bacterial issue rather than a creative one. Maybe check with a doctor and get yourself a Z-Pak. If ANY of those are the case, and you have your first masterwork banging around inside you like Dennis Quaid (INNERSPACE reference!), the last quarter of this year is going to be the absolute best time to kick your own ass into gear. And you know why?

Because Franklin Leonard and the impossibly awesome people at The Black List have been kind enough to offer something at the end of this rainbow that you cannot afford to pass up. If you have the balls to find out whether or not you have any shot whatsoever as a screenwriter, that is.

It’s going to work like this:

THE GOAL

1. On 18 July 2014, the email address you can find on the main page of this blog will be open for submissions. You will have ONE MONTH (that is, until 18 August 2014, for those of you who are idiots) to send me a one-page declaration of why you want to write the FEATURE-LENGTH (MINIMUM: 90 pages) script you are going to write. Your only job is to convince me as that you’re capable of great writing and that you’re going to finish this fucking thing in six weeks. That’s it.

2. I will pick ten of these submissions.

3. The Selected Ten will be announced on 20 August 2014.

4. The Selected Ten will start their scripts on 1 September 2014.

5. Once per week, the Selected Ten will submit a reaction to the last seven days of writing – their successes, their failures, their frustrations, their unfettered rejection of any higher power(s). These reactions will be shared on my blog, along with my own.

6. On 15 October 2014, the scripts must be finished, no questions asked, no exceptions whatsoever. You must literally write FADE OUT and be done with it. And when I say you must “literally” write FADE OUT, I’m not misusing the word “literally”. Those two words literally have to appear at the end of your script.

THE RESULT

If all of these steps are completed according to the rules of this little game (which I will lay out in full below) then each of the Selected Ten will be given TWO months of script hosting on and FOUR evaluations from The Black List – free of charge, courtesy of the wonderful people at said Black List. Because you’ll have earned it. This means that, by 15 December 2014 at the latest, you will have not only completed the first draft of a screenplay but you will have been provided with four industry-level evaluations of your work at the cost of $0 to you. So if you play your cards right, you could have a nicely-polished second draft of your script to foist upon the world in any way you see fit by New Year’s Day 2015. Are you excited? I’m excited.

It is of UTMOST importance that you read ALL of the following if you’re up to the challenge of a submission:

THE RULES

FIRST AND FOREMOST

This is an opportunity for NEW writers. That is to say: if you have ever previously been employed as a screenwriter, you are not eligible. For a studio, for a production company, for a producer, in film, in television, with a coat, in a boat, whatever. If you’ve been paid to write a screenplay, you’re out. And I will be verifying this independently.

SUBMISSIONS

1. All submissions must be in the form of a Microsoft Word document, 12 point font size, whichever font you like best. There will be no exceptions. Don’t have Word? Find someone who does. Can’t be that difficult.

2. All submissions must be limited to one page. No exceptions. If your submission is even one single character over a page, it will be deleted unread. This page should include both your full name and email address.

3. All submissions must be sent to the provided email address with the subject line “Why I’m Going to Write This Script Now”. Exactly like that, quotations and capitalization included. No exceptions. If your subject line does not read exactly as such, your email will be deleted unread.

4. Your submission will not contain ANYTHING related to the content of the script you are going to write outside of its chosen genre. I don’t want to know anything else. I do not care. I only care WHY you want to write it. If your submission contains any of the following, it will be deleted immediately and dismissed: the script’s title, logline, or any other identifying information whatsoever; discussion of any characters or locations; examples of any dialogue or voiceover; anything pertaining to details of the script that are not the script’s genre. To make it perfectly clear: YOU ARE NOT SUBMITTING AN IDEA FOR A SCRIPT TO ME. You are submitting an explanation of why you want to write it. Is that limiting? Absolutely. Be creative. That’s the point. To that effect, anything that I think violates this accord will be cause for immediate deletion and dismissal of your submission.

5. The cut-off for submissions is Midnight 18 August 2014 Pacific. No exceptions. Anything received even a second later will be deleted unread.

6. The Selected Ten will be determined by me and only by me and announced on 20 August 2014. No explanations will be given. No exceptions. If you don’t hear from me, you aren’t one of the Selected Ten. No I will not tell you why. It will just have to be left an unanswered question that will haunt you the rest of your life.

WRITING

1. The Selected Ten may officially start their FEATURE LENGTH (MIN: 90 pages) scripts on 1 September 2014. This date shall be observed on the Honor System. I’m not your fucking mother. I will trust you to be honorable. Any time prior to this date shall be used for any necessary prewriting or for general pissing around.

2. The script ABSOLUTELY CANNOT have been previously completed. It is encouraged that you start a completely new script. It is DISCOURAGED that you throw out and start over on a previously uncompleted script; however, it will be allowed, begrudgingly. These rules shall be observed on the Honor System. However, it should be noted: if a script is uploaded to the Black List that has previously, IN ANY FORM, been uploaded to the site, that writer shall have their script deleted from the site and their allowances therein canceled. Also, I will shame the motherfucking shit out of you on Twitter. Relentlessly and with purposeful malice. This is to be a fun and communal experience. Don’t be a dick. You MAY adapt your own previously completed short script into a feature-length script. YOU MAY NOT adapt any pre-existing material that you do not personally own or have the rights to. I feel like I shouldn’t have to say that but some of you are perpetually stupid.

3. Each of the Selected Ten will submit to me, every Sunday, a two-paragraph summary of their week. As few story details of the script should be mentioned as possible; these updates are to give other writers a look into your process, not to describe your story. Paragraphs need not be submitted in Word, just over email. I’m not a MONSTER.

4. The finished first draft of your script – FADE OUT BEING THE LAST THING TO APPEAR ON THE LAST PAGE, SIGNALING COMPLETION – shall be uploaded to The Black List ABSOLUTELY NO LATER THAN 11:59PM Pacific Time on 15 October 2014. No exceptions. That means that if you upload your script at exactly Midnight 16 October 2015 Pacific Time, you are fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked and all this will have been basically for naught. Them’s the rules. This really shouldn’t be a problem. If you complete your script early and upload it BEFORE the 15 October deadline, good for you! However, your two months/four evaluations package will start on YOUR DATE OF SUBMISSION, not 15 October.

THE REST

That’s it. That’s the whole kit and caboodle for you. A couple more things for me:

1. At no time ever – be it before, during or after the dates laid out in previous sections – will I ever be reading, analyzing or commenting on individual scripts. That is not my job here, nor is it my intent. So don’t ask. If you do ask, I will fire rockets at someone you love.

2. There is a chance that unforeseen professional writing obligations may cause me to be unable to complete and/or even start my own spec script simultaneously to the Selected Ten. However, should such a situation occur, at no point will anything be altered negatively for the Selected Ten. You will write your weekly reactions and finish your scripts by the said dates and be provided your Black List entitlements.

3. I reserve the right to extended deadlines and make changes to rules at any point as I see fit. In that way, I’m sort of like God.

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And that’s about it. I good you bid luck. Now go ready those submissions!!!!

As you should have probably guessed, this email comes from Brian, a current resident of Atlanta, GA. Brian has had some pornog…erm, “alternative film industry” experiences trying to lock down PA work in a town where more than a fair amount of real studio (and indie!) movies shoot. The problem is that he doesn’t know where to look for the opportunities. So I was hoping that someone with more hands-on experience in out-of-California physical production could lead him in the right direction, as I feel ill-equipped to give him a decent answer. I’M JUST A KEYBOARD JOCKEY.

Anyway, Brian writes:

“I’m in Atlanta, GA. As you probably know, there are a lot of projects going on in the area. On two occasions, I have replied to ads that were placed on craigslist, and have offered to work for free as a Production Assistant. Without going into detail, I left (on my own) minutes after arriving. I will just say that there was absolutely nothing professional about the people, or the set. It was a craigslist lead. I’m sure you get it.

I consider my Google skills to be above average, but for one reason or another, I can’t seem to locate the companies to contact. I search for production companies and jobs for Production Assistants, but I can’t seem to find anything that seems to be film related. If I read that the feature film “XYZ” begins filming in Atlanta during August, how do I get my name in the hat for something like that? For example, they have been filming INSURGENT in Atlanta. They had the cameras rolling before I knew anything about it. Also, the state has a website and, oh, a “hotline”. Of course, It hasn’t been updated in over a month! In L.A., I’m sure I could get the info at the local Starbucks. But here in Atlanta, it’s still relatively new.

I have zero experience in film, but a ton of interest to gain the experience. Over the last year, I’ve just sort of become fascinated by the entire process – from story concept to film completion and everything in between.

If you have any advice on where I should look, or what approach I should take, I would really appreciate it.”

BTW, let’s step back here for a second and talk again about how to ask for something of someone who’s a professional in this business, because Brian knows what the hell he’s doing. He admits he’s stumped, admits he’s new to the business (or even WANTING to be in it), declares his passion for wanting to learn more, yearns for experience, and just wants to be pointed in the right direction. THAT is how you ask for help. Brian is going to get help now, I promise you. So if you’re trying to get your feet wet, consider jumping into the pool the same way Brian did. I could never stress this enough.

Back to the matter at hand: help Brian. Unfortunately generating this post is the best I can personally do for him, but I know you guys will fill in the gaps for me (the gaps in this case being “literally everything having to do with obtaining a PA gig outside the Greater Los Angeles area and almost literally everything having to do with obtaining a PA gig within the Greater Los Angeles area).